The Vancouver Whitecaps have incorporated video at every level of their club and are reaping the rewards.

How to Effectively Use Hudl at Every Level of a Soccer Club

The Vancouver Whitecaps have incorporated video at every level of their club and are reaping the rewards.

Andy Peat is the video analysis coach for the Vancouver Whitecaps. In this four-part blog series, Peat will describe how the Whitecaps’ program uses video and how vital it is to its success.

There are a number of reasons the Whitecaps have become proficient in using video, but consistency is near the top of the list. Every team in the club, from the MLS squad to the residency teams, uses the same basic analysis structure to ensure continuity for players as they advance.

As players progress in our residency, they have access to video from all their matches. This in turn gives access to relevant footage for specific players to our club’s technical director and coaches. They can easily monitor and scout all our players.

We not only use Hudl as the online tool to share and distribute individual footage, but also to analyze video with Hudl’s arsenal of tools, including Gamebreaker, Sportscode and iCoda. The analysts worked with coaches to create a standardized code window in our residency program, giving coaches a shared way of breaking down the games tactically. The coaches can adjust the code window to meet their individual needs, but the core concepts are maintained. This is an important feature as our coaches embrace the analysis culture in their approaches.

The coaches for the 14s, 15s, 17s and 19s have the same code windows, but they can add in specific details for players or technical things. The primary piece is the consistent approach throughout the club. This is how we start. If the 14s coach is talking with the 17s coach about video, they’re using the same language and have the same understanding because the primary base for that code window is the same.

Younger players often play up for specific matches and are given opportunities to perform against a higher level of competition. Through Hudl’s team management functions, we can easily add and remove players to various teams. This simple feature ensures all players see their performance and helps them gain a deeper understanding of the game.

With easy access to relevant footage for specific players on Hudl, our club’s technical director and coaches can monitor and scout all our players.

From an applied analyst’s perspective, success is often linked to extracting great performances from the team or individual. Hudl’s flexibility enables us to do this. Coaches and players are constantly asked to evolve in games, training and off the field. As analysts, we too need to adapt under pressure, in condensed time frames. Doing this to get the coaches what they need can be the difference between winning and losing.